26/10/2020
Cleas ná Féasta, Ceoil Anam agus Geáitseálaí/Bréagriocht Oíche Shamhna – Trick or Treating, Souling and Samhain Mummers/Guising.
In Ireland, guising or mummering has been a tradition practiced on Oíche Shamhna (Samhain night) for centuries. Originally the Irish Celts dressed up in animals skins and danced around bonfires (bone fires) for Féile na Marbh (feast of the dead). Where they would feast and give offerings to their dead ancestors. This guising or mummering evolved into Irish people dressing up as the dead and all manner of supernatural beings. In the hope that any wandering spirits encountered on the night when the veil of the worlds was the thinnest, would assume they were also dead or from the otherworld and leave them alone. Traditional competitions are held in pubs, where people dress head to toe in complete disguise and the winners are those that cannot be identified by the end of the night. Children were also dressed up to protect them from the Sídhe (fairies) as it was said they went on the hunt that night to collect children and adults.
Souling or Ceoil Anam is a tradition where the Irish peasantry went around collecting food for Samhain feasts, fuel for Samhain bonfires and offerings for the Sídhe (fairies) or Púca. They went from door to door of their wealthy neighbours for donations of food such as soul cakes, kindling or money. In return they would sing a song for the families deceased relatives. It was considered very bad not to give anything to the poor on Oíche Shamhna and it was said bad fortune would fall on those that did not donate, sometimes the people would even seek revenge for the spirits.
The phrase ‘trick or treat’ was also not used in Ireland until the 1980’s traditionally children simply recited, Aon úlla ná cnónna? Any apples or nuts? Penny for the Púca? Or sang “Christmas is coming, The goose is getting fat, Please put a penny in the old man’s hat, If you haven’t got a penny, A ha’penny will do, If you haven’t got a ha’penny, God bless you.” It was also not very common to get chocolate or refined sweets, with the bulk of treats being fruit, nuts, home made popcorn and old house hold furniture for the bonfire.
